A. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to the field of laundry stands. More specifically, the invention relates to laundry stands that are collapsible for storage when not in use.
B. Description of Related Art
Other attempts at collapsible laundry stands have been made in the past. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 1,594,415 shows a plurality of cross bars 9 attached to folding frames 6, 7, 8 on either side of the cross bars 9. The cross bars 9 are maintained within the folding frames 6, 7, 8 by stamped metals sleeves 12 having a slit therein. The sleeves 12 also comprise an inwardly pressed knob 13 that cooperates with a groove 11 in the cross bar 9 to maintain the cross bar 9 within the sleeve 12. The sleeve 12 further comprises flanged ends which maintain the sleeve 12 within bores of the folding frames 6, 7, 8. The sleeve 12 is inserted into each bore by compressing the sleeve 12 to the point where one of the flanged ends can pass through the folding frames 6, 7, 8. However, at least one of the flanged ends must be formed after the sleeve has been inserted into the frames 6, 7, 8.
U.S. Reissued Pat. No. Re. 16,324 discloses a drying rack in which slats 3 are attached to one another by sleeves 4. Each sleeve 4 comprises a spring 12 and is maintained within aligned bores of the slats 3 by flanges 6, 7. The spring 12 prevents removal of a rod 8 that has been inserted within the sleeve 4 by cooperating with a groove 9 of the rod 8. The sleeves 4 are inserted into the bores of the slats by inserting the sleeve 4 having only one flanged formed thereon and forming the second flange after the sleeve 4 has been inserted through the bore. As with the '415 patent, at least one of the flanged ends must be formed after the sleeve has been inserted into the slats.
More recently, U.S. Pat. No. 6,394,292 discloses three basic arrangements for attaching cross rods 16 to end frames of a laundry stand. At FIGS. 4–8, an arrangement is shown utilizing a connector 50 and fastener 74 to attach elongated members 26, 28 (forming an end frame) wherein the connector comprises an end 54 with a locking protrusion 62 that cooperates with a recess 64 of the cross rods 16. At FIGS. 9–13, a similar arrangement is shown wherein the cross rod 16 comprises the protuberance 56 and the connector 80 comprises a bore 86 with a recess 57.
At FIGS. 14–17 of the '292 patent, a connector 110 includes a body 112 with a generally cylindrical configuration. Longitudinally extending from one end of the body 112 is a pair of legs 114 and 116 which are separated by a gap 118. The outer surfaces of the legs 114 and 116 are cylindrical and generally aligned with the outer surface of the body 112. Extending radially outwardly from each of the legs 114 and 116 are projections 120 and 122, respectively, which are sized and configured to be inserted into holes or recesses 124 and 126 in the end 58 of the rod 16. Longitudinally extending from the other end of the body 112 is a shaft 128 with a disk 130 mounted to the end of the shaft. The shaft 128 and disk 130 are configured to fit into the U-shaped cut-out section 44 and the end of cross bar 38 so that the cross bar can be attached the leg 12 or 14. FIGS. 18–21 show variation of the FIGS. 14–17. However, the connectors of the '292 patent require too many separate parts to be efficiently manufactured.